Have you ever wanted to travel to Ethiopia?

So often when I talk to people about our adoption or my involvement with Children's HopeChest in Ethiopia, they say how great it would be to go there.  Well.......now is your chance!

I will be leading a team to Ethiopia in June 2012!  We will be staying a little over a week.  While we are there, we will be visiting Kebron as well as another care point or two.  We will also have a little time to explore and take in some of the Ethiopian culture!


I would love for you to join me!  I still have space on the team for YOU!!  As a sponsor of one of the children, this is an amazing opportunity to meet your sponsored child.  Nothing compares to how special it is to get to meet the child that you have been praying for, writing to and thinking about for so long.  Even if you aren't a sponsor, you have the opportunity to go and make a difference in the life of a child.  You can share the love of Jesus with children who may not have a parent to tell them how much they are loved or to just hold them. 

If you think you might want to go with me, just send me a note.  I'll be happy to send you more details!!

Orphan Sunday

Today is national Orphan Sunday.  A day when we, as a country, reflect on the plight of the orphan.  Obviously, this day is very significant to me.  Not only do I have a heart for the orphans worldwide, particularly in Ethiopia, but my own daughters were once orphans.  


I honestly can't imagine our lives without them.  Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been without our share of struggles and tears (often mine!) but when is acting on faith ever easy?  God doesn't call us to live a comfortable life, He calls us to follow Him.  His word tells us very clearly that we will have struggles and yes, we have had struggles.  But to think I would have missed the blessings that our simple act of faith and obedience brought, is unimaginable.  Please don't misunderstand, God blesses obedience!!  


I tucked my girls in bed tonight and began to pray and was overcome with emotion.  On this day, Orphan Sunday, I sat holding the hands of my two blessings and answers to God's call.  They were once orphans.  They once lived longing for a mother's hand to hold.  They didn't know a family.  They didn't know the security of unconditional love, even when you mess up.  What if we had said no??  What if we had been influenced by so many of the lies that are told to persuade us not to be bold and answer yes, no matter the cost?  Adoption is God's plan of restoration.  Every child needs a family.  Every child needs to feel the loving arms of a mom and dad.  It is their story and it is our story.


I pray that every person who reads this, will take a moment to reflect on how God may be calling you.  Is it to adopt?  Is it to foster a child?  Helping others to adopt or perhaps being a support to those who have adopted?  Maybe you are being called to sponsor a child or go on mission trips.  We are ALL called to do something.  I pray that you have the courage to say yes!

More Children Sponsored! Is there one for you?

I'm excited to say that we have had more children sponsored!!  I'm amazed to see the way God is stirring hearts in people to become a sponsor.  I wish words could truly convey how incredible it is to be connected to a sweet child halfway around the world through sponsorship.  I think you sometimes just have to experience it to know the way God can open your heart and the love that grows for this child that you haven't even physically met!


I thought I would share a few words from a sponsor family about their experience through sponsorship.


"As a result of the introduction of Kebron and ultimately Talita into our lives, our lives have been forever changed.  Her spirit, her strength, her amazing positive attitude and view towards life has been so inspirational.  We find ourselves trying to model the attitude of this amazing young girl, from a far away country, who has a wisdom and a love for life that are way beyond her years and far beyond the struggles she lives with everyday, without a family and in poverty.  Our hearts are forever filled with gratitude for her spirit and for the lessons she teaches us.  We love her as if she is one of our family.  Thank you Kebron, thank you Kristin and thank you so much, Yewbi, for bringing this wonderful girl into our lives.  We thank the Lord daily for this wonderful gift and privilege.   ~Beth"


I would love for you to "meet" more of the children from Kebron.

Adisu was born in 2003.

He is in second grade.

Biruk has been sponsored!

Kalkidan was born in 2000.

She is in fifth grade.

Eliham has been sponsored!

Rahel was born in 2006.

She is not attending school.

Mikiase was born in 2003.

He is in kindergarten.

Abenezer has been sponsored!

Tensay was born in 2001.

She is in fifth grade.

  

New Children Available for Sponsorship

We now have all the profile information on the new children who have recently come to Kebron.  They are beautiful children who will now have opportunity for a better life and future through Children's HopeChest.  Please let me know if you are interested in sponsoring one of these great kids for just $34/month.

       

Rediet was born in 2005.  She is in kindergarten.

Aynalem was born in 2003.  She is in kindergarten.

Terefe was born in 1997.  He is in eighth grade.

Both of Terefe's parents are deceased.

Yordanos was born in 2004.  She is in kindergarten.

Yordanos has been sponsored!

Sentayehu was born in 1999.  She is in eighth grade.

Meheret was born in 2006.  She is in kindergarten.

Mikias was born in 2002.  He is in second grade.

Mikias has been sponsored!!

Frehiwot was born in 1996.  She is in sixth grade.

Fasica was born in 1996.  She is in tenth grade.  

Both of Fasica's parents are deceased.

*Fasica is deaf.

Kick off with Light Will Rise

This past spring I was talking with some fellow adoptive families about my involvement with Kebron.  They were in the process of starting a group of families who shared the common connection of adoption from Ethiopia.  Many of the families had already adopted and brought their children home and others were some place in the process.  Besides being a way to connect socially and provide support to each other, they wanted to explore ways to give back to Ethiopia and hopefully make an impact on some of the root causes of the orphan crisis.  I was so impressed with the vision they had developed!


They approached me to find out more about Kebron.  I was happy to share what we had been doing and the vision for the future.  They asked if I would be interested in partnering with them to fundraise, help with sponsorships and potentially go on the mission trips back to Kebron.  Of course I was interested!!  What a huge blessing to have this group come along side me in service to Kebron and Children's Hopechest!


They had set a date of September 11 to do their big launch of the group and announce their global partnership with Children's Hopechest and Kebron.  In meeting together to plan for this event, I suggested speaking with Yewbi, Kebron's founder, to see what she might be able to add.  Well, she added herself!  She said she would love to come and speak to the group and tell her personal story of how Kebron was started and what direction she felt God was leading her to for the future of Kebron.


Yewbi flew in from out of state just to be with us.  Our family was so blessed to be able to host Yewbi for a few days in our home.  She is an amazing woman who has been bold in following God's lead regarding these children.  She has faced so many battles but has never given up.  I was inspired to hear what she has done and honored to be a part with her.  


Our launch event was a huge success.  We had approximately 130 people in attendance.  I had taken the sponsor cards of the new children with me and some were even sponsored that night!


I am thrilled to have Light Will Rise partner with me and Children's Hopechest as we continue our ministry at Kebron.  God has big things in store!!

Making room for more

After several months of anticipation and working out details, we now have added more children to Kebron!  There will be 5 children who will be moving to Kebron and will live there.  We also will have an additional 30 children who will continue to live in the community but come to Kebron daily for food, clothing, medical care and education.  I should have their profile information very soon.

If you would like to sponsor a child, please let me know.  It is amazing what God is doing in this little community!!

Finally an update!!

I can't believe how time gets away from me these days!  Here is a quick re-cap of the past few months....

*After returning from Ethiopia, I tried desperately to capture the holiday spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  If any of you have ever gone a mission trip and found it a bit difficult to re-acclimate back to American culture, you will understand the difficulty of trying to re-acclimate in the thick of the holiday season.  Frankly, I think I probably went through a bit of a spiritual "funk" of sorts.  Serving God in the midst of such extreme poverty conditions and loving on the least of these takes you to such an intimacy with God and returning home to "normal" just seems weird.  It truly took a couple of months before I felt like I was back in the groove spiritually.

*In January God began speaking to me about moving our family back to my hometown where my parents still live.  Not that I wouldn't love to go back home but I just was unclear as to the timing of it.  Life was finally beginning to settle down.  We prayed and prayed for clarity and discernment on making this decision.  I would have jumped at this prompting a few years ago but now we had kids in school (one in high school and one going to middle school) as well as my younger ones.  How would this effect them?  I was also in the thick of getting a vulnerable children ministry going at our church.  Why would God choose now??  He did affirm us quite clearly though that this was exactly what He was telling us to do.  I have learned first hand repeatedly through the last few years that I desire for my heart to be obedient to my Savior no matter what.  So, we began the overwhelming task of preparing a house to sell with 5 children, 2 dogs and a guinea pig!!  We finally got the house on the market in April and had multiple offers on it within four days......wow, did God ever show up big!!  We traveled to the new city the next weekend, found a house there, and had a contract on it.  Through much work, stress and tearful goodbyes, we were unloading in our new house two months later!

*Through the chaos of the move, I went through a bout of kidney stones (boy, not fun), a couple of rounds of stomach bugs and unfortunately my dad developed additional medical issues.  I definitely needed to be here for my parents.

We continue to dig through boxes, work on updating the house and trying to settle in.  The summer has seemingly slipped past us and we are now preparing for heading back to school.  I typically don't enjoy heading back to school because I miss my kids being home but I think this time will be different.  I think we are all ready to jump in to a normal school routine and meet some new friends!

Thus, my life has been in a bit of a whirlwind the last few months.  I hope to now be able to keep things a bit more updated!!  Thanks for your patience.